College Hoops 2K6 Hands-On

With March Madness exactly one month away, one might think that all of this season's college basketball games are behind us. After all, both EA Sports and 2K Sports released their college hoops games late last year. That's not exactly the case, however, as 2K Sports is releasing an Xbox 360-only version of its popular college basketball game, College Hoops 2K6, just in time for the tournament. We got a chance to sit down and play the game with the producer to get a feel for just how things have changed in the conversion to the next console generation.

To their credit, the 2K Sports folks are putting a positive spin on the late arrival of 2K6 for 360. After all, those extra weeks of development have allowed the 2K6 team to put the hours in studying the teams, players, and coaches in the game to ensure that the rosters, lineups, and player attributes found in the 360 version of 2K6 are the most up-to-date around.

The one word we heard most often during our discussions and playtime with 2K6 was "tight," as in "tightening" up the isomotion controls to make them more responsive, "tightening" up the shot percentages for artificial intelligence-controlled teams to better reflect actual numbers, and addressing other AI aspects of the game to ensure that the gameplay is as accurate as possible. Part of this means that the game has slowed down from how it plays on the Xbox and PlayStation 2, a deliberate design choice that's meant to mirror the slower pace of the college game. That may be the case, but in our playtime with 2K6, it certainly didn't mean sluggish gameplay. What it means is a more deliberate tempo when setting up your play, spreading the ball around, and finding an open man on the floor.

Another thing we liked about the gameplay was the ability to preload passes in the game in order to quickly move the ball between two or more players. It worked well in our time with the game, and it allows you to rapidly find an open guy or hit the guy driving toward the basket before your opponent even realizes what is happening. Fans of the coach's clipboard option will be pleased to know it's well intact in the Xbox 360 version of the game--including the ability to set points of emphasis during timeouts. Putting emphasis on defense, for example, will give your team a slight bonus on their defensive attributes. New for the 360 is a meter that lets you know exactly how long that particular point will be emphasized in the half. When it runs out, you can move on to another subject--say, rebounding or shot selection. Choose wisely, however, as you get to make these points of emphasis only twice per half.

This being an Xbox 360 game, however, the first question most anyone will ask is, "How does it look?" Well, to be honest, it's not as big a leap between the PS2 and Xbox versions as was found on the Xbox 360 version of NBA 2K6. Don't get us wrong, the game benefits from the higher resolution and more smoothly animated player models. And there are definitely shades of NBA 2K6's influence in the game--noticeable in things like the cloth physics, depth-of-field camera trickery, and toned-down sweat effects. If you're expecting Gonzaga's Adam Morrison to look as amazing in College Hoops 2K6 as Shaq or D-Wade does in NBA 2K6, however, you're in for a surprise. Part of the problem is the sheer size of the game, of course. With more than 400 teams (including legend squads) and approximately 6,000 players to build and outfit, you'll forgive the development if the point guard on UMBC isn't a dead ringer for the real thing.

Other visual tweaks for the 360 version of the game include new camera angles and new crowd animations during the pregame introduction, as well as subtle reflection effects on the hardwood courts. Also, instead of switching camera angles during free throws, you'll now take frees from the same angle you choose to play the game from, which means you'll be able to quickly get on the rebound for an errant shot--something that wasn't as easy to do with your point of view always shifting in the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game.

The essential game modes in 2K6 are the Pontiac Tournament, coach mode, rivalry, practice, and legacy. Pontiac Tournament mode lets you choose from a number of different tournament types--from individual conference tourneys to the NCAA Championship--and customize each event to your own specifications. In coach mode, you can unlock your inner Coach Krzyzewski and direct the action on the court without having to make the shots yourself. Rivalry mode lets you quickly get into grudge matches between rival universities, and practice mode lets you work on the fundamentals, without having to worry about the score.

The in-depth legacy mode is where offline players will spend the majority of their time, creating a coach from scratch, taking the reins of a small-time program, and building it up until it is a March Madness contender. You'll hire assistants to help you in recruiting and coaching the best talent in the land (or, in your case, the best talent available to you) and you can use modes like training camp to help you make wise coaching decisions. Play your cards right--and win a few games here and there--and you just might get to keep your job, or even move up in the coaching world to a bigger program. In addition, the Greg Gumbel-hosted preseason and tournament selection shows have been beefed up with even more team information and season awards, such as all-freshman or all-conference awards.

Online play in College Hoops 2K6 will support both league and tournament play and, as always, game results will be fed to the 2K Sports Web site, where you can run your own league. One feature that's especially nice is the ability to skip ahead in online league games, then go back at a later date and play older games on your schedule--perfect for the leagues with members who always miss the scheduled game nights. Online play will also feature extensive VIP profile tracking, which will let you accurately scout anyone you play to get a feel for that player's tendencies. There are a number of Xbox Live achievements to earn in 2K6, including some of the more difficult badges such as scoring 40-plus with one player, or blocking 25 shots or more in a game--but producers told us they are planning on adding many more for next year's game.

College Hoops 2K6 may be arriving a bit late in the season, but that doesn't mean we're any less happy to see it get here. The game is scheduled to hit stores on March 13, and you can expect more coverage on it in the coming weeks.